Saif Ali Khan knife attack: What we know so far about the investigation

Bollywood actor Saif Ali Khan was injured after an intruder attacked him with a knife at his residence in Mumbai on Thursday, January 16.

He was taken to the Lilavati Hospital in Bandra.

After receiving information about the incident, the Bandra police reached the spot and launched an investigation.

Here is all you need to know about the investigation so far:

Initial investigations: CCTV traced, 20 teams formed

CCTV visuals of the unidentified intruder were traced and ten teams were formed to investigate the offence. As per the preliminary probe, the intruder did not force his entry or break into the actor's 12th floor flat in Satguru Sharan building, but possibly sneaked in at some point earlier in the night.

Khan's house-help, who raised the initial alarm, suffered a minor knife injury during the scuffle. She later visited the police station to lodge a complaint for alleged attempted murder and trespassing. Police, however, did not confirm the sections under which the First Information Report was registered.

Mumbai police formed 20 teams to track down and nab the intruder.

The crime branch and the local police gathered technical data, including the number of mobile phones active in the area when the actor was attacked.

Evidence was collected from Khan’s home and the building with the help of forensic teams and the dog squad and searches were conducted at many places in Mumbai to track down the attacker.

The footage, captured at 2.33 am, clearly showed the young suspect’s face. He was seen wearing a brown T-shirt with a collar and a red scarf while scurrying down the stairs on the sixth floor of the building. The actor lives on the 12th floor.

False alarms: Two suspects nabbed, released later

Mumbai police on Friday morning detained a suspect in connection with the attack, an official said.

The man was taken to Bandra police station. He was detained after police questioned several people who resembled the attacker, the official said.

A new video surfaced on Friday showing the suspect going upstairs in Khan's building in Mumbai's Bandra area with his face covered and carrying a bag.

The man picked up for questioning by police is a carpenter by profession and had worked at Khan's flat two days before the stabbing incident, an official said on Friday. However, he was released later when the police was able to verify his alibi.

Another suspect was detained at Durg railway station in Chhattisgarh on Saturday, January 18. He was also released when the main suspect was arrested.

Main accused nabbed, new evidence recovered

Mumbai police on Sunday said a 30-year-old man who stabbed Khan at the actor’s residence had been arrested.

Preliminary investigation suggested that the man had entered actor's home with an intention of theft, a senior police official told reporters. Saif Ali Khan's attacker, who was arrested from adjoining Thane, is a Bangladeshi, who had changed his name Mohammad Shariful Islam Shehzad to Bijoy Das after entering India, the official said.

He said the attacker was apprehended from Hiranandani Estate on Ghodbandar Road in neighbouring Thane district.

The accused was eventually located lying on the ground in a dense mangrove area near a labour camp at Hiranandani Estate in Thane.

Police also recovered a piece of a broken knife from Khan's house

Here's how the accused was apprehended

During interrogation, Fakir said he panicked upon seeing his image flashing on news channels and social media. He claimed that he had planned to flee back to Bangladesh, officials said.

The officials said that fingerprints collected from the duct and washroom window at the crime scene would be matched with those of the accused as part of the ongoing investigation.

After probing, police revealed that the fingerprints of the accused were indeed found at the crime scene, including the bathroom window from where he entered and exited, the duct shaft, and the ladder he used to enter from the duct, the official said.

He said the accused, who hails from Jhalokati in Bangladesh, had been living in Mumbai for more than five months, doing petty jobs.

During the probe, the police found that the accused was seen outside Dadar railway station thrice and had gone to Worli Koliwada, he said.

The police examined hundreds of CCTV footage and found out that the attacker had visited a labour contractor in the area, the official said.

He said the labour contractor gave the police all the details about the attacker, and based on his direction, the police traced him to a labour camp in a forested area in Thane, from where he was apprehended.

Accused produced in court, gets five-day police custody

A Mumbai court on Sunday remanded the accused in police custody till January 24 after observing that the police's contention that an international conspiracy cannot be ruled out.

Police told court that the alleged attacker was a Bangladeshi national and there was need to find the motive behind his act. Police also told court they needed to find out if there was an international conspiracy linked to the case. Accepting the police's contention after perusing documents on record, the court said the prosecution's submission of international conspiracy "cannot be said to be impossible".

He has been charged under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita sections 311 (robbery or dacoity with the intent to cause grievous hurt or death), 331(4) (house-breaking) and other offences as well as provisions of Passport Act, the official said. A detailed probe has begun into how he managed to enter the country illegally, the kind of documents he possesses and how he obtained them, the official said.

How the crime was committed; how the attacker fled

The man arrested on Sunday was in Bandra till 7am on the day of the incident and slept at a bus stop, a police official said.

Police said he had entered the Bollywood star's home in the early hours of January 16 with the intention of theft. "He slept at a bus stop near Patwardhan Garden in Bandra West till 7am on January 16 after the incident. Later he boarded a train and reached Worli (in central Mumbai)," the official said.

"Our probe has found that he took the stairs till the seventh-eighth floor, then entered the duct area, climbed to the 12th floor using a pipe, entered the actor's flat through a bathroom window. He then came out from the bathroom, where he was seen by the actor's staff, which led to the chain of events that resulted in the attack," the official said.

The official said the accused started arguing with a nanny in the house and sought Rs 1 crore, and hearing the ruckus, Khan arrived there and nabbed him from the front.

"The accused was startled and stabbed Khan in the back. Khan later locked the flat believing the accused was pinned inside. However, the accused managed to flee from the same area from where he had entered. We have recovered a hammer, screwdriver, nylon rope and other materials from his bag," the official said.

These items made the police suspect he may have criminals antecedents, the official added. The accused came to know that he had attacked a Bollywood star only after seeing television news reportage and social media posts of the incident, the official said. Meanwhile, another official claimed Shehzad got time to flee as a detection personnel from Bandra police station took the CCTV digital video recorder (DVR) of Khan's building, and these were not shared with the Mumbai Crime Branch.

Probe gets direction

An official who spoke to PTI said the police had observed the backpack the accused was carrying in the CCTV footage they analysed, and this gave a direction to the probe.

Later, with the help of CCTV, drum data and online payment, the police traced the accused.

With the help of the image of the accused's face captured on CCTV, the police analysed persons with criminal records who looked like him and detained a few suspects. But when nothing came out of this, they checked the CCTV footage from the Bandra area again, the official said.

The accused was seen in a CCTV footage walking towards the Bandra railway station around 7 am, and he had changed his clothes, he said.

How Fakir's Bangladeshi identity was revealed

"After he was nabbed by police, Fakir told police that his name was Vijay Das and he was a resident of Kolkata. He, however, failed to provide any document to support his claim. He disclosed his true name and Bangladeshi nationality during interrogation," an official said.

Police then made Fakir call someone from his family in Bangladesh.

"He called his brother and asked him to send his school living certificate. His brother sent it (the certificate) on Fakir's mobile phone. This document is strong evidence to prove he is a Bangladeshi national," the official added.

Probe continues...

Mumbai police on Tuesday recreated the crime scene with the accused. the police team entered the building through the front gate with the accused, Shariful Islam Shehzad Mohammad Rohilla Amin Fakir. Later, they also took him to the Bandra railway station, from where he had taken a train to Dadar, and to a place outside a garden where he had slept after the attack.

Edited and compiled by DH Web Desk